1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of electrodynamic speakers. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of directional adjustable audio speaker systems for automotive vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, audio speaker systems are well known in the art. These speaker systems cannot always be mounted in the ideal location in vehicles because most factory speakers are mounted in the vehicle's doors, and most aftermarket replacement speakers are mounted in the same spot and therefore do not improve the sound quality of the speaker.
In some prior art applications, a tweeter is mounted into a housing which is mounted to the speaker and is flush with the grill. The disadvantage with this prior art design is that when the tweeter swivels in the housing, the tweeter is partially blocked by its own housing and the quality of the sound is distorted. Another disadvantage is that the tweeter can only swivel to a certain degree because of the constraints at the periphery of the housing. In another prior art design, the tweeter is mounted on the grill and is rotatable by loosening or tightening a knob. The disadvantage of this design is that it cannot be used with existing grills that are already mounted in the vehicle.
The following eight (8) prior art patents were uncovered in the pertinent field of the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 2,231,479 issued to Perry on Feb. 11, 1941 for "Signal Translating Apparatus" (hereafter "the Perry Patent").
2. U.S. Pat. No. 3,213,209 issued to Doelitzsch on Oct. 19, 1965 for "Loudspeaker" (hereafter "the Doelitzsch Patent").
3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,276 issued to Goettl on Apr. 23, 1968 for "Speaker Installation Means" (hereafter "the Goettl Patent").
4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,618 issued to Sasaki on Aug. 28, 1973 for "Speaker System" (hereafter "the Sasaki Patent").
5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,429 issued to Senzaki on Jan. 8, 1980 for "Loud-Speaker System" (hereafter "the Senzaki Patent").
6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,365,114 issued to Soma on Dec. 21, 1982 for "Automotive Loudspeaker Having Variable Speaker Orientation And Particular Electrical Connections" (hereafter "the Soma Patent").
7. U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,414 issued to House on Nov. 19, 1985 for "Multi-Driver Loudspeaker" (hereafter "the House Patent").
8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,428 issued to Perrson on Jul. 28, 1992 for "Direction-Adjustable Speaker System" (hereafter "the Perrson Patent").
The Perry Patent discloses a signal translating apparatus. It includes a large conical diaphragm adapted to particularly radiate the lower frequencies and a small diaphragm nested concentrically with the large diaphragm and adapted to particularly radiate the higher frequencies. The Perry Patent does not have an adjustable means.
The Doelitzsch Patent discloses a loudspeaker. It includes a woofer cone and a tweeter cone. A voice coil is mounted to an elongated tube and the tweeter cone is permanently mounted to the forward end of the tube. The Doelitzsch Patent is a conventional loudspeaker which does not have an adjustable means.
The Goettl Patent discloses a speaker installation means. It includes a triangular frame which is disposed to close a corner recess of a building room, ceiling and wall structure. The frame provides an adjustably supported means for supporting a speaker therein. The perimeter of the speaker does not extend out from the frame.
The Sasaki Patent discloses a speaker system. A speaker box is supported within a frame body by shafts provided at the right and left sides, so that the speaker box is allowed to rotate around the horizontal extended shafts and a middle range speaker and a tweeter are included in the speaker box mounted on a baffle. This has the same disadvantage as mentioned above, where the speaker box is rotated within the frame body and is partially blocked by its own housing and the quality of the sound is distorted. This is a home unit and does not relate to car speakers.
The Senzaki Patent discloses a loud speaker system. It includes a woofer speaker and a tweeter speaker which is disposed substantially coaxially to the woofer speaker. The tweeter is mounted to a support plate which is disposed within the opening of the woofer speaker. The pivotal movement of the support plate is carried out stepwise by the alternate engagement of balls held in holes formed in the web portions of the bridge members with the detents formed in the side plate portions of the support plate.
The Soma Patent discloses a composite speaker system for automotive vehicles. It includes a low range speaker unit, a medium or high range speaker unit and an attachment member. The attachment member is attachable to and detachable from an outer peripheral portion of a frame member and provides a protection to the open surface of the low range speaker. The attachment member includes an annular ring portion, a hub portion and spokes which radially extend from the hub portion to the inside wall of the annular ring portion. The medium speaker unit is coupled to the hub portion of the attachment member. The medium speaker can be varied in the vertical direction by adjustment of a knob. Upon loosening the knob, the medium speaker can be rotated about the knob whereas by tightening the knob, the medium speaker can be secured at any possible position. In the second embodiment of the Soma Patent, the medium speaker is designed to be rotatable in the horizontal and the vertical plane.
The House Patent discloses a multi-driver loudspeaker. It includes a woofer speaker and a tweeter speaker which is mounted within the woofer speaker. The tweeter cone is suspended in front of the woofer cone in several ways. The tweeter perimeter can be attached to the woofer cone directly, or through a compliant member. The tweeter cone can be suspended in front of the woofer cone, with no physical contact between the cones, by supporting the tweeter cone from its crystal driver and attaching the crystal driver directly to the voice coil form of the woofer. The mounting structure permits orientation of the tweeter speaker axis at an angle to the axis of the woofer speaker. In the House Patent, the conventional pole piece which supports the tweeter speaker is eliminated.
The Perrson Patent discloses a direction adjustable speaker system. It teaches a swivel speaker system to custom aim sound emanating from the speaker. It includes a sound driver which is secured within a rotatable mount, which is itself secured within a housing by means of a retainer. The disadvantage in this design is that the sound emanating from the tweeter is partially blocked by the housing.
It will be desireable to design a novel composite speaker system for automotive vehicles in which a tweeter is mounted to an adjustable flexible arm which is mounted to a speaker, so that a listener can adjust the tweeter to improve the sound quality because the, tweeter can be aimed at the listener in the vehicle.